Inmates do not have access to the Internet. They must respond with their own version of a postal letter. Inmates that have money on their inmate trust accounts can purchase stamps and envelopes at the weekly commissary. If they do not have money on their books, the prison will provide indigent inmates with all the materials necessary to send out mail to their loved ones. If your inmate writes to you directly, using your address, the cost of the mailing

Inmates may spend anywhere from $50-75 per week or about $310 per month depending on the institution. This is a very generous amount and most inmates would be VERY happy to have that amount available to them to spend.

In some state prisons, there are programs that offer up to one day of good time for two days working in the kitchen. You would have to speak with the institution's staff to get clarification on what good time credits pertain to them.

The receiving inmate is usually someone that never gets money on their account so they are able to "sell their commissary limit" to another inmate that has the ability. This happens often but you will never really know the real reason. Sometimes the inmate has a gambling debt or a gang debt, or other times it is really for the reason you stated. But the receiving inmate will get paid a fee from the amount that gets deposited and buying the

Money sent through Western Union is normally posted within a couple of hours. Depending on the system at the prison/jail, inmates may access their account on the telephone or their counselor hands them a receipt of deposit with the amount and the sender.

That is not a good sign. The fire camp is a good detail for inmates as they get to be outside and do a normal-type job. Getting transferred to the Centinela State Prison, where they provide for the confinement of General Population, Level I, Level III inmates, Level III sensitive needs and maximum security (Level IV) inmates would tell us that he might have lost his custody level due to some violation of rules. 

Inmates cannot accept incoming calls, they have to initiate the call. Local calls are the cheapest - long distance and collect calls can run $15 for 15 minutes, people use InmateAid's Discount Phone Service to get local numbers making the calls from the jail at the cheapest rate.

Depending on where they are incarcerated, we can give you more accurate information. Most places do NOT allow you to send things in, all the possessions an inmate is allowed to have must be purchased at the commissary. Send us the information and we will let you know the restrictions.

They will not let the public know of the new location as it is a security risk to the transporting marshals, so they keep this information private until the move has happened. In many cases, the US Marshal service will transport the inmates to Oklahoma FTC which is a prison actually situated on the tarmac of the Oklahoma City International Airport. The inmate could stay there for one night or several weeks until the designation is ready and able to

Yes, usually their counselor will hand them a slip of paper with the transaction date and amount